


Troubles of a Thalassophobic Fox

by AriaPsiana389



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 15:43:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5671378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriaPsiana389/pseuds/AriaPsiana389
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kitsune Akemi is a user of a mystical zoan fruit. Not only can she not swim, she is deathly afraid of the ocean. She's more suited to Blacksmithing. Sadly, she is a childhood friend of Luffy, so it'd be natural to ask her to join his crew. Probably not the best idea, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Troubles of a Thalassophobic Fox

_Gold Roger, the "King of the Pirates," had achieved it all. Wealth, fame and power had all been his. Not suprisingly, the final words he spoke before they lopped off his head inspired adventurers throughout the world to sail the seas._

_"My treasure? Why, it's right where I left it... It's yours if you can find it... But you'll have to search the whole world!"_

_The world..._

_...Is about to witness a great era of piracy!_

**_-Ten years ago-_ **

Everyone of the pirate ship that had docked here a year ago was sat in the village bar, drinking and eating meat. They gave a toast to a small black-haired boy named Luffy for his courage(?) and for their great voyage.

"Erm... Luffy, I still think that wasn't such a great idea. Any farther up and you could have blinded yourself..." A silvery-white haired girl, known as Akemi, muttered as she refered to the bandage under the boys eye.

Akemi also had small fox ears and a tail the same colour as her hair and red eyes with slitted pupils. Around her neck was a necklace with small stones known as Hoshi-no-Tama, stones said to be the source of a kitsunes power (although these did nothing). She wore light blue clothing, a t-shirt and trousers, as well as a kitsune mask strapped to the side of her head, although it was slightly too big and kept falling down.

"I'm not the least bit afraid of getting hurt! Take me with you on your next voyage! I wanna be a pirate!" Luffy said as he was sat on one of the bar stools.

The pirate next to him just burst out laughing. He was the captain, known as "Red-haired" Shanks, "You!? A pirate!? Impossible! Luffy, do you know why we call you "Anchor"? Because you can't swim- you sink! What good is a pirate who can't swim?"

Luffy wasn't happy hearing this, "But if I don't fall overboard, then it doesn't matter if I'm an anchor! AND I'm a strong fighter!" He stood up on the stool and punch the air at the same time saying, "I've been training with Aki! My punch is as powerful as a pistol!"

Akemi rubbed a sore spot on her arm, "I don't know why I agreed to it..."

"A pistol, eh?" Shanks didn't look convinced, "Is that so..."

"Are you doubting me!?"

It was at that point that Akemi decided to leave as it was getting too loud for her liking.

As she was walking down the street, Akemi saw a group of people that didn't look too kind coming from the other direction, so she decided to hide to avoid confrontation. As they walked past it was then she recognised Higuma, who was leader of the mountain bandits, and they were heading in the direction of the bar that Shanks' crew was at. Akemi thought about running to warn them but she got scared when she thought about what would happen if the bandits found her before she got to the bar.

She decided against it and headed straight for home.

Later Akemi found out that nothing much happened apart from food and alcohol being spilt, a few things smashed... And Luffy ate a devil fruit that turned him into rubber. He was quite upset that he would never be able to swim, even if he wasn't that great at it anyway.

The next day Luffy got tangled up with Higuma and Shanks lost an arm because of a giant eel that nearly ate Luffy. Akemi missed all this because she had to stay home and help out. Although she was there on the day the pirates left.

Luffy had decided to make being a pirate on his own and declared he was going to become the pirate king.

Shanks took off his straw hat and put it on Luffys head, "Do me a favor... Keep this hat safe for me?" Tears started to stream down Luffys face, "This hat means a lot to me. promise me that you'll give it back to me someday... when you become a great pirate."

Luffy said nothing as nearly the whole village watched the pirates leave and their ship sailed away.

Akemi and her family left five years later so her parents could find better jobs.

- **Present Day -**

"Aki! Refill!"

"Y-yes."

"Aki! Give this to that table!"

"On it."

A young woman, Kitsune Akemi, was running back an forth between the tables in her adoptive parents bar. A fox tail trailed behind her as she ran.

"Aki! Where's the food that I ordered?"

"S-sorry. It's going to take a little longer."

It was busy. Slightly busier then it normally was. Akemi's coworkers, Haruki and Shiori, were next to the bar, Shiori putting his jacket behind the bar while Haruki was just doing nothing. She did get along with Haruki but there were times she just wanted to scream at him as he tended not to do very well with his work, often messing up, but of course she never really had the courage to do so.

Haruki and Shiori were brothers that lived across the street. They looked alike, both having brown hair and blue eyes, although Shiori was more feminine and was often mistaken for a woman. It didn't help that Shiori could also be a name for a girl. Shiori also had a more gentle personality while Hiruka was... Hiruka.

Aki squeaked when someone tapped her shoulder, Shiori, "Hey, Aki. We can handle the rest from here, go and take your break."

She nodded, "Ok. Good luck." The only people she didn't stutter around was the siblings and her parents as she was used to them.

She went to go and take her place at the bar. After time Aki had become used to the loudness of the bar and it became more bareable. She learned to shut everything out unless someone was talking to her, but there was one thing she would listen out for. News of pirates.

It would have been not long ago that her friend would have left to become the pirate king. Aki would keep an ear out for any news on him. It wouldn't be hard to, he tended to make a lot of noise.

Her mother, who was working behind the bar, stood near her, "Akemi, can you deliver something to your father for me?"

One of Aki's ears twitched, "Ok."

Although her parents owned a local bar, her father was also a blacksmith, one of the only blacksmiths on the small island. So they also owned the only store that dealt with weapons.

Aki was regularly sent to deliver lunch to her father as he often forgot to get food or even eat. At the same time she would help out around the store and picked up a few things on blacksmithing, only the small things on how to sharpen swords and make small blades. Aki wasn't allowed to handle large weapons like maces and battle axes yet, she was only just allowed to handle long swords and Katana. She prefered making handles and hilts as she liked carving the details. A lot of people commented on how someone like Aki shouldn't be near a forge. Her father soon shut them up when he said she made the dagger they had been holding.

Her mother, Suzu, whom ironically wore a bell around her neck, passed over the wrapped lunch to Aki. She walked out the door and instantly headed for the blacksmiths which was nearly on the dock.

Having the blacksmiths on the dock meant that if any pirates or navymen arrived they wouldn't have to look far to get their weapons fixed.

Youto looked up from the counter as soon as Aki stepped in, "Ah, what did Suzu pack for me today?"

Aki passed over the pakage, "You should start bringing it yourself..."

Youto grinned, "Then my darling daughter wouldn't bring it for me! Oh, that reminds me," he reached under the counter and brought out a handle for a dagger, "I fixed the handle. I don't know how you managed to break it like that..."

Aki took the handle and looked it over, there was no sign of damage and it looked exactly like it did the day she made it. It was from the first dagger she made and the decoration was the most simple but it was one of Aki's prized possesions.

"Hiruka wanted to try throwing daggers and managed to get a hold of mine. He threw in wrong and it hit a rock." Aki sighed, "I was thinking of making him some."

"You better get started then, we just got some more iron in. Use it as a brib to get him to do more work." Youto said as Aki headed into the back, "Can you finish the last order before you start though? I've already made the others, there's only one left and another to sharpen."

"Sure."

Aki stood infront of the round stone that would be used to wear down the metal so it became sharper quicker then it did with just a normal whetstone. She picked up the sword that lay next to it and got the stone to start spinning.

After a while of holding the blade of the sword to the stone and flipping it over a few times, sparks flying everywhere, she put the blade in the sheath that had been made for it.

Aki gave the sword to Youto and he gave her the details for the last weapon, a simple short sword.

She instantly set to work, placing a long-ish piece of iron in the forge until it was glowing, taking it out and hitting it with a hammer until it cooled too much. Aki repeated this until it was the shape she needed it to be. She then held it to the stone the same way she did with the previous blade.

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't as long as I would've liked it to be but I decided to post it now. I need to get used to this site first, it's more confusing to post stuff than Fanfiction.net. Anyway. I don't know what made me come up with a "pirate" that hates deep water. I say "pirate" because Akemi's future has not yet been decided.  
> Anyway, "Thalassophobic" means a peristant fear of the sea, large bodies of water, fear of the vast emptiness of the sea, and fear of distance from land. Thalassophobes may also be afraid of encountering sea creatures rather than the sea itself. Just to clear that up.


End file.
